Lawmakers seek input before special session

Tuesday, July 9, 2002 | 11:18 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, has scheduled another meeting of her committee to study malpractice insurance before the Nevada Legislature convenes in special session.

Buckley said the committee would meet July 22 and again on July 29. She said she hopes to have consensus on some of the issues before Gov. Kenny Guinn convenes the special session sometime in August.

Buckley's committee had one session scheduled for July 29 before the governor disclosed he would call a special session.

Guinn has given doctors, lawyers and insurance companies until July 26 to come to an agreement on what laws need to be changed to resolve the current crisis on medical malpractice. If nothing is resolved Guinn said he would present his own plan.

The governor has said he favors a plan that puts a cap on damages for pain and suffering, much like a California law.

The California law, enacted in 1975, imposes a $250,000 limit on pain and suffering damages; disclosure to the jury of other sources of payment to the injured; a limit on the fees of lawyers; periodic payment for future damages; a requirement that a 90-day advance notice be given a doctor by an injured party so a settlement can be worked out before a suit is filed; and a strengthening of the discipline for errant physicians.

Buckley said, "Is what's good for California good for us? Usually not."

Marybel Batjer, chief of staff for Guinn, said there is a lot more to tort reform than just the $250,000 cap.

"This is not a single issue," she said.

The governor is aware, she said, that caps have not worked in some other states. And in some states, they have been subject to legal challenges.

In some cases, Nevada's law may be better than California's, Batjer said. Guinn is looking at all parts of the California law and other suggestions.

Buckley said the major issues at the special session will be the cap on non-economic damages, insurance reform, reporting of medical errors and licensing of doctors.

Buckley said insurance companies "ducked" the prior meeting of the study committee.

"A number of insurance companies were noticeably absent," she said.

Buckley doesn't foresee a quick special session.

"There should not be a rubber stamp of some person's idea or special interest group," she said.

Buckley said she wants to encourage physicians to stay in Nevada, but she criticized the doctors' strategy of quitting at the trauma center at University Medical Center. She said they were "putting lives at risk."